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'Biggest Loser' recap: Is purple the new pink?

May 18, 2011 | 11:02
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Attention "Biggest Loser" producers: Where's my marathon?

We're one week from the finale, and I've come to expect what had been a rite of passage for finalists in recent seasons: The world's most exclusive marathon, ending at the Pacific Ocean. It's become a symbolic run from an obese past to a sunny, fit future, and undeniable evidence of what can be achieved in mere weeks with enough guts, courage and determination. (And, with Bob and Jillian threatening to beat you with your own limbs if you don't get busy in the gym).

So I was incredibly disappointed to find that Season 11 will finish without such a fitting conclusion. Do you agree with me? Did you miss the marathon? Let's hope it returns in Season 12.

We had two other rites of passage this week, the beloved take-it-off challenge (very clever staging on a golf course) and the final weigh-in on campus. Sisters Hannah and Olivia go down in the record books for making it, intact, to the final two in a blaze of purple. That left Jay and Irene below the yellow line, even though Irene is the reigning in-house "Biggest Loser" champion for losing the largest percentage of body weight while on campus.

But the biggest news of the night? Jillian's bowing down before Hannah, in recognition of Hannah's indomitable spirit and spunk. That one goes in the record books, too.

So, America, now you get to vote. Who should land that No. 3 spot in next week's finale for a shot at $250,000 and the Season 11 title? Should it be Jay, a cat with nine lives, who has struggled at middle age to redefine himself in a world where youth is king? Or Irene, who is truly our Cinderella as unveiled by Fairy Godfather Tim Gunn? She arguably has had the toughest go at the ranch -- she lost her partner, and mother, in Week 1 -- and never looked back. (Even Jay had his daughter around for support for longer than that.)